Kosala Gunawardane

Dr. Kosala Gunawardane is an Associate Professor in Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), School of Electrical and Data Engineering. Previously, she held roles as Associate Professor and founding Director of the Centre of Future Power and Energy Research (CFPER) at Auckland University of Technology (AUT), New Zealand. She also served as Deputy Program Leader in the Blue Economy Corporate Research Centre in Australia. Her academic journey includes a PhD in Power Electronics (University of Waikato, 2014) and a BEng in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering (University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2005). She is an IEEE Senior Member and former Vice Chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering NZ North Chapter.

Dr. Gunawardane’s research focuses on renewable energy systems, hydrogen and fuel cells, DC microgrids, supercapacitor applications, and power electronics. She has secured significant funding from NZ government and Australian CRC grants as a primary investigator. Her work emphasizes sustainable energy solutions, including grid stability, energy storage optimization, and offshore renewable systems.

Her research highlights include pioneering hybrid energy storage systems, advanced DC circuit breaker designs, and hydrogen integration in microgrids. She has published over 111 articles and edited sections on hydrogen energy conversion and management. Awards include a 2018 finalist position in the NZ Women of Influence (Science & Innovation category).

Dr. Gunawardane leads funded projects such as the Blue Economy CRC’s offshore power systems and UTS’s energy transition initiatives. She actively contributes to IEEE conferences as an organizer and associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. Her teaching spans circuit analysis, sustainable energy systems, and energy policy.